The air wing of the Border Security Force (BSF) needs a revamp to assist boots on the ground who constantly need air support in their operations. Not only is there a need to expand the fleet of BSF's air wing, but maintenance of existing helicopters has also been a problem, creating critical gaps in ops in tough terrains like the Maoist zone and high mountain ranges along the India-China border.

The BSF air wing at present is almost redundant as most of its fleet of aircraft and helicopters is obsolete. Sources said in the fleet of 16 that included five aircraft and 11 helicopters, about five have not been used for some time and the others also need constant repair and high maintenance. Earlier this year BSF purchased 2 Mi17 helicopters. "Other than the two new ones the rest are not in a very good condition," said an official.

After Tuesday's crash of the VT-BSA, Superking B200, the fleet has been reduced to 15. It has two British manufactured Avro aircraft founded in 1910 used as a trainer aircraft in World War I and an Embraer executive jet meant to ferry VVIPs .

A draft plan to modernise and expand the fleet that can enhance the functioning of the forces was prepared but no decision has been taken by the government till now. "It's an extensive plan but we want it to take shape quickly. The idea is to have air support at standby always. It can save lives and those in the line of fire can get reinforcements," said a government official. Sources said with a limited fleet it is almost impossible to get services from BSF during emergencies at a short notice.

Other than the BSF, the air support is required for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) combating Maoists and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) guarding the Indo-China border. With no roads leading up to many border outposts, ITBP jawans have to walk up if helicopters are not available. "Transportation of troops and sending reinforcements and also rescuing those injured could be more effective if there is constant air support," said an officer.

The need for air support is not restricted to this but even for surveillance. The CRPF has been using unarmed aerial vehicles in deep jungles of the red corridor to keep an eye on Maoists.

New Delhi: BSF has an air wing since 1969, which has a fleet of four fixed wing aircraft - one Embraer, two Avros and the crashed Superking (SKA B-200). It also has 15 helicopters consisting of six MI-17 1V, two advanced Mi-17 V5 choppers, six Advance Light Helicopters (Dhruv) and one Cheetah helicopter.

BSF planes and helicopters, which operate under MHA's command, are usually deployed for Naxal operations, disasters like earthquake and floods, ferrying senior rank officials and politicians for important events.

The medium-lift helicopters (MLH) MI-17 1V fleet was inducted in BSF in 2003. These helicopters were procured under the J&K action plan. Earlier this fleet was mainly used for air logistics and communication tasks. However, in the last few years their employment and the scope of their utilization has extended.

BSF's air wing has its bases at New Delhi, Raipur, Ranchi, Agartala and Srinagar, with fixed-wing operations only from Delhi.

In fact, the Superking, which was inducted in 1994 in the BSF, has been extensively used by the force in the last 20 years. The same plane reportedly went to Kutch, Gujarat where Intelligence Bureau held its DG/IG conference, which was attended by PM Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh as well.

“Should I blame the weather or the machine,” asked an inconsolable Neeraj Kumar, minutes after the BSF aircraft crash on December 22 that claimed the life of his brother, BSF Deputy Commandant Dhirendra Kumar. He wasn’t the only one who had raised doubts about the health of the BSF’s aircraft — the families of others on board the ill-fated plane and experts had asked similar questions. How good or bad really are the BSF’s planes and choppers, regularly used by VIPs and for operations in Naxal areas? And should the BSF have had its own fleet at all when the Indian Air Force can fulfill its operational needs?

Why a BSF Air Wing?

The BSF Air Wing came into existence in 1969, four years after the force was raised, for quick movement of small units of troops along the western and eastern border of the country. It started with a single Queen Air C-80 aircraft. In 1974, the fleet was expanded and made to serve the needs of other paramilitary forces as well. Since then, the fleet has expanded to 22 aircraft (down to 21 after Tuesday’s crash).

Besides VIP movement and operations in Maoist zones, over the last few years, BSF choppers have been employed for disaster relief, special heliborne operations for the National Security Guards, counter insurgency operations, air-maintenance of remote border outposts etc.

The home ministry has argued that the BSF Air Wing is not only necessary but also needs to be expanded as IAF has been unable to fulfill the operational demands of internal security. It has argued that paramilitary forces need air support at their disposal given the ever-increasing challenges of internal security. This year, the government sanctioned wet-leasing of choppers, over and above BSF and IAF support, for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) which had been demanding dedicated air support for maintenance of border outposts.

An expanding but ageing fleet

Before Tuesday’s crash, BSF had two HS 748 Avro, one Embraer 135 BJ and one Super King B-200 aircraft in the fixed-wing category. In the rotary category, the force has 18 choppers. These include five MI 17 V5 (inducted only this year), six MI17 1V, six ALH (Dhruv) and one Cheetah helicopter.

While the Super King B-200 aircraft that crashed was 20 years old and was overhauled six months ago, the HS 748 Avro, commissioned in 1991, is the oldest aircraft in the BSF’s fleet. The latest acquisition is of Embraer, commissioned in 2005. It is preferred by VVIPs. The home minister generally uses it for official visits.

Though questions have been raised about the health of the Avro, BSF maintains that all its aircraft are fit to fly. “MoS Home Rijiju has flown Super King B-200 several times. The Avro recently ferried senior home ministry bureaucrats from Bhuj to Delhi after the DGs conference,” said a home ministry official.

A proposal to buy new aircraft for the Air Wing has been pending with the home ministry for a few years now.

The rotary wing

The chopper fleet is not said to be in very good health. The MI17 1V choppers, commissioned in 2003 as part of the J&K action plan, are already past their prime and barely one of the choppers has been used in the past couple of years. During the J&K floods of 2014, they could provide only 35 minutes of service. Sources say, until recently, the BSF choppers were able to serve only 3 per cent of paramilitary needs.

Part of the problem was also that most choppers were earlier stationed in Delhi with operational requirements being in far-off Kashmir and Chhattisgarh. Since choppers such as MI17 require servicing after every 50 hours of flying, they were able to spare little time for operations.

However, recently, choppers have been stationed at new bases. Now BSF choppers operate from Ranchi, Raipur, Agartala, Srinagar, Safdarjung Airport and Guwahati. The induction of the state-of-the-art MI17 V5 choppers is expected to boost operations.

Manpower trouble

The fleet has been plagued by manpower problems for the past several years. There is a severe shortage of trained pilots and technical staff to service the entire fleet. BSF still borrows pilots from IAF which has led to human resource trouble within the Air Wing. The higher pay and rank given to IAF pilots has caused a lot of heartburn to pilots from paramilitary forces who feel short-changed for performing similar duties.

The plan to fully hand over operation of the fleet in the hands of paramilitary men has not worked because of poor implementation. In the past 10 years, the home ministry had attached several paramilitary personnel with the Air Wing’s rotary division as co-pilots after training. They were supposed to hone their skills under IAF pilots’ guidance. However, only one chopper, the Dhruv stationed at Ranchi, has come under BSF’s operational control. The process failed to produce pilots as paramilitary men never got the requisite flying hours. This was because home ministry did not allow non-operational practice flying until recently.

New Delhi: Within three months, Maoists fired at another helicopter of the security forces in south Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. A day after nine suspected Maoists were killed in a joint operation at Kanchala forests on the Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border, the rebels targeted an MI-17 helicopter of the BSF. However, the BSF managed to evacuate the Greyhounds men, involved in the operation, from Battiguda in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, close to the encounter site.

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BSF choppers went on five sorties on Wednesday to fly out 95 of around 130 Greyhounds men from the forest to their base at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh. The BSF helicopter was hit when it landed at Battiguda around 3.30 pm. “On the last sortie, we came under fire. However, we managed to fly out with 14 men,” said BSF director-general Subhash Joshi. The BSF chopper returned to the area on another sortie. “We are concerned about the security of our men and chopper. But, we will definitely perform the task assigned to us,” said Joshi.

IAF choppers evacuated 35 security forces personnel from the area. An IAF source pointed out the imperfect sanitization of the landing area in the Maoist stronghold.

During Tuesday’s joint operation unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were deployed for surveillance. “UAV images showed armed men, suspected to be Maoists, forcing women and children of the village on a tractor and fleeing during the encounter,” said a senior officer. The Maoists probably used the women and children as human shield while fleeing, he claimed.

Private heptrs chartered by CRPF for naxal areas. Though welcome development for troops on ground, it is really sad that our government forces are unable to muster own resources and has to charter private operators.

GOI should ressurect the Auxilliary Air Force (AAF) - which is the TA equivalent of IAF - for such operations.

New Delhi, Mar 1: The government has hired two helicopters from a private firm to provide air support to security forces deployed in the jungles of Chhattisgarh and its border areas which are hotbeds of Maoist activities. The much-awaited deployment of these air assets has come after more than a year of hectic efforts to find more helicopters for troops tackling Left-wing extremism (LWE). CRPF has inked the deal for leasing two private choppers which will not only carry troops for reinforcements but also evacuate battle causalities and supply arms and rations.

A team of two Bell choppers has been based at Jagdalpur in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, which is among the worst Naxal violence-affected areas, for operations under the command of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the lead force for combating the LWE challenge. “Two private choppers have been hired on contract for aiding the forces in anti-Naxal operations. The flying machines have begun operations and will be based in south Bastar,” a senior officer said.

The private firm which is providing the choppers has experience of operating in the Maoist-affected zones, albeit for ferrying civilians and VVIPs. “We have been operating in Chhattisgarh since 2008. This is the first time we will be helping the security forces in a full-fledged role. The sorties will be executed by the CRPF,” Ajay Veer Singh, Managing Director of the Delhi-based Dhillon Aviation Pvt Ltd, which owns the choppers, told PTI.

The firm has deployed its own pilots and crew for the operation, repair and overhauling of the flying machines. The helicopters, while operating in these areas, will land and take-off from helipads which will be sanitised and secured by CRPF and state police. “The choppers, even though only two, will be of precious help during operations or for evacuating casualties, thereby saving numerous lives as time is at a premium in this theatre of operations. “The helicopters will also be used to provide rations and other essential items to troops in the difficult-to-reach areas of Chhattisgarh and its border areas with Odisha and Andhra Pradesh which are hotbeds of Naxal activity,” the officer said.

CRPF has been pitching for getting more choppers to add to the existing fleet of 11 helicopters deployed for anti-Maoist operations by Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Border Security Force (BSF). With the continuous increase in the number of battalions and men in anti-Naxal operations, security forces have been facing a crunch in terms of chopper sorties for helping troops in such terrain which is marked by difficult topography dotted with thick jungles. With the addition of these two choppers, they will get about 30-40 more flying hours.

A pair of new Mi-17-V5 military choppers are also expected to be inducted for these operations by the middle of this year after they arrive from Russia and join the BSF fleet by March. The latest Mi-series helicopters have an on-board weather radar along with state-of-the-art autopilot functions and latest night vision devices, which are not available in the existing Mi-17s. Helicopters are the most important force-multiplier when it comes to providing logistical support to the forces deployed in LWE operations.

I was doing some research about investment in Pawan Hans and i am really amazed to know the fact that it is best company for non scheduled air transport in India, And it is worth mentioning that there are more than four hundred other companies, Pawan Hans is 30 year old while some of other companies are lot older, So in a way its tremendous growth and i expect its more and more contributions in field of defense as well.

GOI should ressurect the Auxilliary Air Force (AAF) - which is the TA equivalent of IAF - for such operations.

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Or simply have a MHA air wing serving all CAPFs (BSF, CRPF, ITBP, etc) this can even have a specilist wing to serve the NSG. Right now the BSF has its own airwing, the ITBP is raising their own, the CRPF is requiesting their own and it is just becoming a mess. Make use of economies of scale and pool resources to serve all of them.

In "India Charm Offensive" the author offers a lighthearted recount of time spent adventuring through exotic India, flying helicopters for a company contracted to its paramilitary forces.

Having no success avoiding disease, toxic moonshine and lava spiced curry, he also had to survive homicidal drivers, jungle dwelling rebels and, at times, rifle fire. Despite routine encounters with mayhem and death, he also found something approaching charm. Not in the culture of chaos, but in the dark eyes of a mahila, who called India home.

Lurching forward in the seat next to me, he thrust his filthy pointy-finger at the ground. His words quickly smothered by what sounded like we’d hit a sudden pelting hailstorm, though we flew through cloudless sky.

The rifle-toting troopers in back were shouting too. Although shouting in Hindi, it was clear they also wished for me to go up. Adding my vote made the count unanimous. But an Apollo rocket we were not; as the rotor blades clawed at the loose, humid air, we only gained altitude at a rate just better than a tethered balloon.

"Those buggers are shooting at us," I said. "We’re being shot at." Not that anyone onboard needed this illuminating observation.

There seemed to be no shooting from the south, so, banking the helicopter nearly on its side, I angled away in that direction, and the helicopter slowly—too slowly—climbed.